The sixth-grade Hawn State Park camping trip is the ultimate way for our sixth graders to wrap up the end of the school year! By trading the classroom for the wilderness and making campers out of students, a cherished adventure was had by all who embarked on the 2024 trip this past Tuesday.
A few of the sixth graders sat down with us after their trip to tell us all about it. Carly Essman ’30 explained that there were three committees that planned the trip. “The Communications Committee had to communicate with parents, create the packing list, communicate with the nurse about food allergies, and they also made a video of photos from the trip. Then, the Food Committee planned all of the meals, learned about the food allergies and made accommodations, and cooked the food. Lastly, the Activities Committee planned all of these activities and organized students into groups.”
Many students had never been on a camping trip before, so the trip offered a lot of new experiences. “We also had to practice setting up tents so we didn’t have to learn that on the spot,” said Noelle Bryan ’30. “It was hard because we didn’t have any instructions. We had some skills to learn with that activity!”
Up at camp, students got to do a number of fun activities. They went to a mini creek, had a creek walk, enjoyed a campfire complete with s’mores, did tie-dye under the trees, played card games, had fun on the playground, and competed in sports like capture the flag and baseball. “It was like a sleepaway camp!” exclaimed Sana Raza ’30.
All of that fun activity packed the day on Tuesday before the overnight portion of the trip was cut short due to storms coming through the area. Raza said, “At first, I was really upset [that we had to go home] because we had prepared for this trip. As time went on, though, I was glad of the decision to head home. On the returning bus ride, the rain and lightning started, and my bus was freaking out.” Amaar Raja ’30 agreed. “I was bummed too, but when I saw how bad it was raining, I was ok with it.”
Of course, we had to ask the campers about their favorite parts of the trip. Wyatt Eggers ’30 shared, “I loved the campfire and getting to have s’mores. That was a nice classic camp experience!” Raja loved “hiking to the creek and then hanging out there.” Pete Martens ’30 also enjoyed “going to the mini creek, getting wet, and swimming in the water!” Bryan also enjoyed the creek and shared she also loved tie-dying and “the freedom we had up at camp.” Essman liked getting to hang out with her friends, roaming around, and getting to do different activities with them.
Raza had a nice reflection to share. “I just liked the whole thing in general,” she said. “It was very much a bonding experience. You got to hang out with your friends a lot. This was the opportunity to hang out with your friends in the wilderness instead of a classroom. I also really liked the tie dying, and the creek was fun, too, even though I fell in the water a lot of times since it was slippery!”
What does this trip mean to the class of 2030? Eggers reflected, “It makes us really independent as we’ll have more trips next year.” Martens stated, “In seventh grade next year, we’ll get so many new classmates. This trip is a way that we can all bond before new students come and get mixed into the Class of 2030.”
Thank you to the incredible sixth-grade teaching team for making this experience so magical and memorable for the students. Until next time, lights OUT!